ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Amid anger over an Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, Nigerians returned a 72-year-old former military dictator to power Tuesday in the most hotly contested election in the country's history.

The US abandoned late Tuesday a midnight deadline to agree the outlines of a nuclear deal with Iran but insisted that "enough progress" merited extending marathon talks into Wednesday. The announcement came late on a sixth day of talks in Switzerland aimed at laying the groundwork for a deal that world powers hope will prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian programme. The stakes are high, with fears that failure to reach a deal may set the United States and Israel on a road to military action to thwart Iran's nuclear drive, which Tehran says is purely peaceful.